Type-writing machine



(Model.

J. H. FORREST. TYPE WRITING MAGHINE.

No. 438,617. Patented Oct. 21, 1890.

JOHN H. FORREST, OF MARION, INDIANA.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 438,617, dated October21, 1890.

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN H. FORREST, a citizen of the United States,residing at Marion, in the county of Grant and State of Indiana, haveinvented a new and useful Type-Writ ing Machine, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in type-writing machines in whichmovable keys by mechanical connection with a wheel with flexible armscarrying fixed types, of metal, rubber, or other material, operate inconjunction with said wheel and arms to print the letters of thealphabet and numerals into words on paper or other substance; and theobjects of my improvements are, first, to increase speed and accuracy intype-writing; second, to facilitate and cheapen type-writing in variousstyles of type; third, to simplify and increase the capacity oftype-writing machines and reduce their cost and size, and,fourth, toincrease the durability of type-writing machines. I attain these objectsby the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawin gs, in which--Figure 1 is a vertical section of the machine, illustrating the adjustmentand method of operating the letter-keys, the key-board, andlevers and their connections, and of the carriage and its connections.Fig. 2 is a Vertical section of part of the machine, showing theletter-wheel and letterhammer and their connections and mode ofoperation. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of part of the machine, showingthe ratchet or stop, its connections, and mode of operation. Fig. 4 is atop view of the letter-wheel, beneath the arms of which the letters arefixed. Fig. 5 is a detailed view of the ratchet and ratchet-wheel usedto operate the carriage. Fig. 6 is a detailed view of the letter-key.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The wheel A has flat flexible projecting arms 13, to which are securedat or near their ends types, of metal, rubber, or other suitablematerial, all operated bythe mechanical devices following: ahammer-leverC, so formed that one end can be operated as a hammer upon theletter-bearing arms of the Wheel above described and strike on theletter-arms on the side opposite the respective types, and

thus drive them upon the paper or other material placed to receive theimpress of the types.

The lever and hammer described are operated as follows: The hammer-leveris supported by a bridge or beam, as at D, and at the end of thehammer-lever is attached a link E, connecting with a lever F upon a support G, and said lever F is connected with a link 11, which is connectedwith a key-board K, the fastenings and connections. of said levers,links, and supports being by flexible joints. The letter-key L, or anyother letterkey, when pressed down will rotate the wheel so as to bringthe corresponding letter directly under the hammer, and the continuedpressure on the key and key-board will drive the link H downward, and,operating on its connections, cause the hammer to strike upon thetype-arm, thus imprinting the letter on the paper'or other materialbeneath it.

Beneath the hammer-leverisasecond bridge or beam 0 over the letter-WheelA, and in this bridge or beam is a set-screw to regulate the blow of thehammer upon the types and prevent injury to the types by too hard a blowor too long a sweep of the hammer-arm.

Theletter-keyrestson theleverm,furnished with a cogged are 02, made tomatch the wheel and cogged arm 0. The spring P, or other proper springs,supports the levers m at an elevation or depression, as the case may be,sufficient to disconnect the same from the wheel 0 when the letter-keyis not in use.

The elevation and depression of the cogged arcs n are arrested at thepoints of disconnection from the wheels and cogged arms 0 by means ofthe transverse bars 1" and s, supported on the posts R and S, placed ateach side of the machine, or by other secure supports.

Then the pressure is applied to the key L, the are n is brought intoconnection with the wheel 0, which is fixed on the shaft a, causing thewheel and shaft to revolve, and thus rotate wheel A by acting on theconnecting cogged wheels Wand X. The pressure of the key upon the leverm lowers the lever and presses down the transverse bar 4) and lifts theratchet T out of the slot in the wheel to, which is fixed upon thetransverse shaft a, and at the moment the ratchet is withdrawn from theslot the cogged are n connects with the cogged wheel 0 and rotates thesame, operating through the wheels WV and X, turning the letter-wheel A,as above described. "When the lever on is returned to the point ofdisconnection from the wheel 0 by the pressure of springs, as abovestated, the ratchet T, moving on the pivot 2', drops back into the slotof the wheel to by force of the spring K or other suitable spring andholds the cogged wheel 0 in exact position to receive at the properpoint the stroke of the ascending or descending cogs of the levers mwhen operated by downward pressure on the letterkeys. The key-board K,operating on a fulcrum at e, is, by the operation of proper springsafter removal of the pressure from it, returned to its proper place. Thelevers m also are returned to their point of disconnection from thewheels 0 by the use of proper springs for that purpose. These levers mare of two classes, the cogs of one class ascendin g and of the otherclass descending by pressure on the letter-keys. The fulcrum of. oneclass of levers is upon a transverse shaft at q and the other upon atransverse shaft at g. The levers m are held firmly in position and movein the slot in the post h. These levers disconnect from the coggedwheels 0 only when the pressure is removed from the keys. To preventsuch disconnection during the pressure of the letter-keys and to preventthe letter wheel A from being turned too far by such pressure, a stop isprovided, consisting of the transverse ba .2, supported by posts orother firm support. In the transverse bar .2 are placed set-screwsonefor each lever-to regulate the descent of the levers and fix the exactdistance the wheel may turn in order to bring the required letter to itsproper place to receive the stroke of the hammer.

By means of the two classes of levers, with different movements, asabove described, an advantage accrues from the fact that the letter-wheel need not be rotated more than half a revolution to bring anyletter upon it to the proper place to receive the stroke of the hammer,and the highest attainable speed in printing is thus secured.

The number of letters, figures, signs, and characters which may beprinted with this machine can be increased to any desired numher bymaking the letter-wheel larger and the machine wide enough to receivethe increased number of levers m and cogged wheels 0 required to printthe additional letters, figures, signs, and characters. In this way themachine may be made of any desired capacity without materially impairingits speed or case of operation.

' The paper or other material on which the type-writing is done is fedinto the machine by forcing it through the crevice u by means of arevolving roller (1 in the carriage Q. This carriage Q is moved by thecogged wheel y, operating in the cogs along the edge of the carriage.The cogged wheel 3 is fixed upon the end of a shaft J, having at theother end the ratchet-wheel 00, operated by the ratchet I. The pressureon the key-board, causing the hammer-lever to strike the letter-arm,also causes the ratchet to recede upon the ratchetwheel, and the forceof the rising-key-board, when the pressure is removed, causes theratchet to turn the ratchetwheel and the wheel y, and thus moves thecarriage to the point required.

WVhen the printing of a line is completed, the carriage is returned byhand and adjusted for another line by means of a set-screw or fixedwheel at the end of the roller (1. By pulling the knob f, connected withthe ratchet I by the wire or rod p, the ratchet is disconnected from theratchet-wheel cc, and the carriage may be easily returned in the mannerstated, and when the knob is released the ratchet resumes its place byforce of the spiral spring or other suitable springs, as at c.

The letter-wheel A is held firmly between clamps upon its oppositesides, the upper one of which is shown at j, and the letter-wheelbetween these clamps is screwed down firm and solid on the end of theshaft t. The letter-wheel can easily be removed and replaced by othersimilar wheels bearing the same or different styles of type, enablingthe operator of the machine to write or print in avariety of styles withvery little additional expense or trouble.

In writing in different styles it may become necessary to increase thespace between the letters, which is done by shifting the ratchet I fromright to left or from left to right along the slot 1) in the shaft F, soas to increase or diminish the number of cogs passed over by the pointof the ratchet when lowered by pressure on the key-board K, the distancethe carriage Q, is moved depending upon the number of small cogs on theratchet-wheel ac taken up by the point of the ratchet at each pressureof the key-board.

The rim of the ratchet-wheel 0c is made wide enough to permit theratchet to be shifted from side to side any distance required, so as tosecure any desired width of space between the letters.

The knob of the letter-key L is made to screw on the top of the tube iInside of this tube the spiral spring 0 is placed, filling the cavity ofthe tube, and into the lower end of the tube is inserted the shaft uhaving next to its upper end a slot a in the shaft long enough to permitthe tube to slide down over the shaft far enough to depress thekey-board the distance required. The spiral spring 0 is of sufficientstrength to sustain the pressure needed to force down the lever m therequired distance without material compression of the spring, so that inusing the letter-key the lever m, when thus forced down, reaches itsdestination at or before the moment the lower end of the tube comes incontact with the key-board. hen this contact with the keyboard occurs,the shaft 10 under continued pressure, remains stationary, and the tubeby increased pressure slides down over the shaft, forcing down thekey-board far enough to operate the hammer-lever O and to carry forwardthe carriage Q the distance required for the space between letters. Thespace between words is made by depressing the key-board only as often asrequired before beginning to print the next word. In operating thekeyboard for spacing between words the pressure may be applied at anyconvenient place on top of the key-board; but the use of the fixed knobc for that purpose is preferred. If an increased width of space betweenletters is desired, it may be made by depressing the key-board in thesame way that the space between words is made.

The use of the spiral spring in the construction of the letter-key, asabove described, is preferred; but a straight spring 0 is alsoused, oneend of which is united to the lower end of the shaft 11. by a flexiblejoint and the other end fixed solid on the upper edge of the lever m,the straight spring being of sulficient strength to operate the lever mand keyboard K in succession in the same manner and on the sameprinciple as they are operated by the letter-key in which the spiralspring is used; but when the straight spring is used the upper end ofthe shaft M2 contains no slot, but is bolted fast in the lower end ofthe tube so as to prevent the tube from sliding upon the shaft andutilize the tube for depressing the key-board to the same extent as whenused for that purpose in connection with the spiral spring.

Spacing between words without soiling the paper or other material onwhich the printing is done is accomplished as follows: That arm of theletter-wheel immediately beneath the hammer when the letter-keys are notin use is made short enough for the hammerarm when descending to missit, and thus leave the paper or other material to be printed on blank atthat point, and such blank-points are repeated as often as the key-boardis depressed, except when such depression is made by depressing theletter-keys. In this way the spaces between words or letters may be madeof any desired length.

To prevent the key-board K when in operation from ascending ordescending too far, a stop is provided, consisting of the clamp r whichis secured to the machine by a screw or other proper fastening, so thatone arm of the clamp projects over the upper edge of the key-board andholds it down to its proper place, and the other arm projects under thekey-board at sufficient distance beneath it to permit sufficient sweepof the key-board to operate the hammer-arm C, the ratchet I, and thecarriage Q, and make the spacing between letters and words as abovedescribed, and in the lower arm of the clamp r is placed the set-screw 8with which the sweep of the keyboard is regulated with the greatestprecision.

I do not claim the combination, in a typewriting machine, of gear-arms,a type-wheel shaft, and a pinion carried by said shaft, said arms beingbrought independently in gear with said pinion to rotate said type-wheelin either direction from a fixed point and subsequently to return saidtype-wheel to its initial point.

What I claim, and desire to secure by-Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the key-board K, the lever F, the carriage Q, theshaft J, carrying the wheels ac and y, and the ratchet I, carried by thelever F and adjustable in the slot 1), whereby the carriage is movedvarying distances corresponding to the distances the ratchet may be setfrom the fulcrum of the lever, substantially as described, for thepurposes specified.

2. The combination of the carriage Q, the shaft J, bearing the fixedwheelsw and y, the hammer-lever O, and the lever F, carrying the ratchetI and united to the key-board and hammer-lever by suitable links, as Eand H, all substantially as described, the arrange ment being such thatby elevation and depression of the key-board the stroke of thehammer-lever and forward movement of the carriage occur alternately, inthe manner and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, in a type-writer, of the fixed wheel w, the ratchetT, the transverse bar n, the levers m, and the type-wheel A, geared tothe shaft a, substantially as shown, for the purposes specified.

4. The combination, in a type-writer, of the type-wheel A, the shaft or,carrying the fixed wheels 0 and w, the ratchet T, the transverse bars 0,s, z, and o, the springs 1c, thelevers m, and the keys L, allsubstantially as described, for the purposes specified.

5. The combination, with suitable supports, of the transverse bars 0",s, and z, carrying set-screws, the levers m, and the letter-key L, thearrangement being such as to limit the oscillation of the levers andarrest the rotary movement of the type-wheel when the desired characteris brought into position, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, in a letter-key for a type-writer, of the tube '5the spring 0 and the shaft a provided with a suitable slot, as aengaging with a pin through the tube and slot and limiting the slidingmovement of the tube over the shaft, with the key-board K, the levers m,and springs is, all substantially as described, for the purposesspecified.

JOHN H. FORREST.

Witnesses:

GARRY D. CUSTER, ANDREW T. WRIGHT.

